Texas coach Barnes gets salary bump to $2 million per year

UT's Barnes gets bump to $2 million per year

Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Texas coach Rick Barnes was rewarded with a new contract that pays him $2 million per year.

Texas coach Rick Barnes was rewarded with a new contract that pays him $2 million per year.

Photo: Nick De La Torre, CHRONICLE

Texas coach Barnes gets salary bump to $2 million per year

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Less than two weeks after turning down overtures from the University of Kentucky, Texas basketball coach Rick Barnes received a $200,000 pay raise Monday, pushing his annual salary to $2 million.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved the increase, which keeps Barnes among the highest-paid coaches in college basketball. Barnes also received a two-year extension to his existing contract, which now runs through 2017.

In addition, Barnes will receive a $1 million annuity if he holds the position on March 31, 2010, and again on March 31, 2013.

"This is a good thing for Rick (Barnes) and a good thing for the University of Texas," athletic director DeLoss Dodds said in a statement. "Coach Barnes has been terrific for the university. His record on the court and our players' success in the classroom speak for themselves, and we're also a top-five program in the nation financially under his leadership.

"He's the kind of person we want here at Texas."

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Barnes, 52, has led the Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament in each of his nine seasons, including the Sweet 16 in four of the last six years.

The Longhorns advanced to the Final Four in 2003. Behind national player of the year Kevin Durant, the Longhorns went 25-10 this past season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Barnes has acknowledged he was contacted by Kentucky about its coaching position earlier this month. After Florida's Billy Donovan turned down the job, Barnes was considered the leading candidate before withdrawing his name from consideration.